First Medium Format Folder

[GregY]

Just a fact based comparison of three different cameras; one being a M4:

• Mamiya Six is by far the largest in volume among the three. Even when “folded,” its camera body is quite big compared to the Leica, though it’s obviously built around a medium-format mechanism.
• Super Ikonta is a good compromise: a 6×6 folder, but when folded it is only about twice the volume of the Leica M4 — not tiny, but more pocketable than the Mamiya Six.
• Leica M4 is clearly the most compact and lightweight — less than half the volume of the Mamiya Six, and considerably lighter — which is a huge advantage if your concern is “how pocketable / carryable” a camera is.

My 6x6 Perkeo ll is much more compact than an M4

 

[John Wiegerink]

My experience has been that front cell focusing tends to fall short at close distances (10 feet), but the difference isn't huge. For those shots my TLR works better.

That's my experience also, but it doesn't mean that anything shot at a fairly close distance is unusable. I have some very nice portraits shot with front element focusing Tessar, Nettar and Novar lenses. Not to mention Agfa's Agnar, Apotar and Solinar front focus lenses.